An Emerald Ring
by VampireApple
Summary: James and his two friends have just moved to a new town in England. There, he meets a nice girl named Lily. AU. JL. Complete.


_Disclaimer: I don't own the novel Harry Potter, the short story Topaz or the song Discoland._

_Summary: James and his two friends have just moved to a new town in England. There, he meets a nice girl named Lily. AU. One-shot. JL._

**An Emerald Ring**

James smiled as he looked out a window in his new home.

The manor itself was an old one, built around the mid 1800s. Ivey ran up the walls of the house and moss grew on most of the old bricks. Inside the house had one large kitchen/dinning room, a parlor, three bathrooms and thirty other rooms. On the outside there was a fairly large yard with a creek running though it. Various shrubs and trees, but the grandest by far was one hundred and fifty year old oak tree in the front of the house.

James had a clear view of the great old oak from the second-story room he was standing in. Some of the villagers thought it to be haunted. James, of course, thought that was ridiculous since he had seen no ghosts, and even if there was a ghost, it couldn't be worse then Peeves.

"You ready for lunch mate?"

James turned to see one of his best friends standing in the doorway of the empty room. He was dirty, much like James himself, after working all day cleaning out the house. Both of their shirts had black spots on them from when the old radiator spat out some sort of blackish powdery ink at them and their pants where ripped from crawling around on their knees in the basement.

"Lunch, yes. A shower, most definitely," the hazel-eyed man replied carelessly. He walked away from the window and followed Sirius to the kitchen.

"Hey Remmy, what's for lunch?" Sirius asked once they retched the kitchen, not even looking at the man in question. He took a seat at the card table in a folding chair, with James sitting next to him.

"We're having turkey sandwiches, pumpkin juice with various fruits," Remus said, not even turning around. He was not nearly has dirty as the other two, being the most careful of the three.

"Aw, Remus, I didn't know you cared so much," James said tossing a smile in the sandy haired man's direction as he got up to get the cups and pumpkin juice.

"I care? What do I care about?" Remus asked warily, putting the plates on the table.

"Ah, Moony, old chum, old pal, did you know? James loves turkey. Why, just right now he was wishing you would've made turkey, and low and behold ya did!" the black haired man exclaimed and he offered a cheesy smile to Remus.

"Mr. Prongs wishes Mr. Padfoot wouldn't share his love of turkey with Mr. Moony," James said in a scornful voice. He put the cups on the table and filled them with pumpkin juice then sat down.

"Mr. Prongs, Mr. Moony doesn't concern himself about Mr. Prong's love of turkey. In fact, Mr. Moony thinks Mr. Prongs and Mr. Padfoot are both prats," Remus said, before taking a bit of his sandwich.

Sirius snickered and looked slyly at James. "Ya hear that Jamie-poo? Moony doesn't approve of your love of turkey."

James glared at Sirius then threw a piece of his apple at him. Sirius glared back then grinned, throwing some watermelon seeds at him, soon they where in a full-blown food fight.

"Children, children, simmer down now," Remus said when someone hit him with a chunk of turkey. He used a cleaning spell to clean the mess up. James and Sirius looked disappointed that their fun came to an end, but they picked up the chairs and table that had gotten knocked over before Remus hexed them both. "Oh, and before I forget, when can we get the rest of our things and bring them here?"

"We just need to clear out a few more rooms, the old owners really left a lot of junk here, and then we can probably get out stuff here before night fall. We can just set our beds up with magic," Sirius replied.

"Smashing," Remus said, getting up and leaving the room to go finish cleaning

The three friends finished lunch then set off to work, cleaning the house and such. They took a small break for teatime, but then continued cleaning. Finally, at about five O'clock, Sirius and Remus flooed over to their old flat in Ireland to get the rest of their things.

James wandered back to the room with the best view of the old oak. Deciding he wanted some music, he summoned the boom box he and Remus had been listening to earlier. When is came a few moments later he plugged it in and switched it to the CD player. Holiday began to play at max volume.

James grimaced at the load volume, thinking Sirius must have gotten hold of it. After turning the volume down he went to again stand at the window, just looking at the old oak.

_Hear the sound of the falling rain  
Coming down like an Armageddon flame  
The shame, the ones who died without a name_

Deciding he liked the room, he went over to the door and turned it scarlet. Then he carved his full name in gold on the door. He winced as the magic made the music buzz noisy.

_Hear the dogs howling out of key  
To a hymn called Faith and Misery  
A plead, the company lost the war today_

Smiling at the new door, he looked around the new room, happening to glance out the window. Doing a double take, he saw there was someone under the tree. Going closer to the window to get a better look, he spots the rope above the person's head swaying lightly in the breeze. James' eyes widen and he dashes out of the room and down a flight of steps and flees from the house. Standing on the front porch he stares at the tree.

There under the tree was a hung girl, swinging slightly in the breeze, her dark hair covering her face. James walked forward, horror struck, always watching the girl. He was about fifty meters away when a voice called out.

"Is there something wrong?"

James jumped about a meter in the air and whirled around. Standing there was a girl hold books to her chest, like a shield of some sort. She tilted her head to one side and looked at James like he was some sort of an enigma. James looked over his shoulder to find the hung girl wasn't there. He turned to face the new, alive, girl.

"Did you see her? Is she a ghost?" James asked, somewhat confused and a little out of sorts.

"No. Did you? Supposedly she was my sister. I think my mother said her boyfriend killed her. I don't remeber he much, I was young when she died. Some people can see her, like my mother, but I've never been able to though," the girl said matter-of-fact. Righting her head, she smiled at him. "You must be new here. I'm Lily."

"Oh, hi. My name is James Potter. It's nice to meet you," James said with a polite smile. "And yes, you're right. My friends and I've just moved in today. They're back at our old house getting the last few things."

"You'll like it here. Kent is a nice, quaint town. Every one is quit friendly, always ready to lend a helping hand," Lily said, striking up conversation.

"That's nice to know. We just came from a big city, to a small town would be a change of pace," James replied.

"I'm sorry, but I must go. My other elder sister expects me to help her clean her house," she said with an apologetic smile. "We should meet some other time."

"Yes, you might as well stop by any time," James replied, watching her go. He stood in his spot even after she was well out if sight, finally he went back inside.

Over the next few weeks James, Sirius and Remus where slowly winning the battle of taming the house and getting their things in order. James continued to see Lily, who came over daily. They would meet by the creek and just talk. James learned all about her, her likes, dislikes, the places she'd been to, the places she wished to go, her family and friends. He heard many rants about her older sister whom 'looked like an hideous horse.'

"James, you know I value your friendship significantly, right?" Lily asked one sunny day in July, fingering her emerald ring. It was a simple ring, a gold band with the precious green stone sitting on it.

The pair where seated on an old, slightly rotted long by the creek. Lily had her head rested on James' shoulder and he ha his arm loosely wrapped around her waist.

"Of course I do," James reassured taken a little by surprise. "And you know I values your friendship also."

"Then I'd like you to have this," Lily said, lifting her head off his shoulder and looking him in the eye. She took off her ring and presented it to James.

"Lily, I can't take that, it was your mothers," James protested, pushing Lily's hand back.

"Well the, will you look after it for me?" Lily asked, biting her lip. "I'm going away on a little trip and will be gone for a bit. I want, need, you to take care of it for me, alright?"

"Alright, if your sure," James said tentatively.

Lily brightened and grabbed his right hand and put the ring on his right ring finger. "Can you promise me you will take care of it?"

"I promise," James replied solemnly.

"Brilliant. Now you've to seal it with a kiss," Lily said with a smile.

"A kiss?" James asked blinking.

"Yes, like this," Lily said, leaning in.

It seemed to take forever for their lips to meet. The first thing James noticed about hr lips was how soft and warm they were. He slowly started to wrap his arms around her and she did the same, entwining her hands in his messy hair. Time seemed to stop has they sat there, arms around each other and lips locked, enjoying the sun and each other. Finally Lily pulled back, moving her head so her forehead was resting on his shoulders, sighing in contentment. James moved his head so that it was resting on hers.

"Thank you James," she murmured.

"For what?"

For giving me my first kiss," she replied, pulling away. "As I said before, I'll be going away for a bit. It shouldn't be long, but if you need any thing, my little sister lives in the only pink house in town,"

James watched as she got up and walked away. Hours passed, then a day, a week, a month and James still hadn't seen or heard from Lily. Finally, James decided to go see her little sister.

He walked into town looking for the house. Finally finding it, he went up the walk and knocked on the door.

"Coming! Coming!" a man yelled from inside the house. The door opened to a stout beefy middle-aged man.

"Yes? Can I help you?"

"Is Lily here?" James asked uncertainly.

The man paled, closed the door half way and went into the house. "Pet! Petty dear, there is someone at the door for you!" he called out.

A few moments later a middle-aged horse-faced woman came to the door with a small smile. "Yes? How can I help you?"

"Is Lily here?" James asked again.

Horse-ace's smile vanished and she scowled. "My disgraceful sister is dead. Her boyfriend killed her years ago, for being the freak she is. I'd rather not discuses it with the neighbors watching. Good day," was all she said before she slammed the door in James' face.

_! 50 years later !_

"Grandpa? Are you in there?" a little voice called out.

James Potter looked up from his work and too the door of his home-office. "Yes Lily love, come in."

A little girl of about six or seven came in and crawled into his lap. She grasped his right hand and asked "Grandpa?

Why do you always wear this green ring? Did Grandma give it to you?"

James laughed. "No Lily love. The first woman I ever loved gave it to me. Her name was even the same as yours. Let me tell you about her."

**AN:** Okay, most of ya'll must be going like 'What the heck?' I'd to remind ya'll that this is an AU. But I'll tell a few things that might clear some things up.

This takes place in 1980. James, Remus and Sirius are all 20. Lily was 17.

Lily was born in 1955 and died in 1972. Petunia was born in 1945.

Voldemort was defeated by Dumbledore in 1973.

Lily was killed by her boyfriend. When he proposed to her, she said no, that she wasn't ready yet. He killed her by hanging her and people can sometimes see her body. Both where wizards.

The only reason James freaked out when he first saw Lily's body was because he thought she had just died. He was fine with having seen a ghost because there are so many at Hogwarts.


End file.
